I'm talking about hide and seek in the park. The corner milk bar,hopscotch, billy carts, cricket in front of the garbage bin and inviting everyone on your street to join in, Skipping, handball, handstands, elastics, catch & kiss, footy on the best lawn in the street, slip'n'slide, the trampoline with water on it, hula hoops, jacks, marbles, string hand games,stepping in puddles, mud pies and building dams in the gutter. A tennis ball in a stocking to bounce between your legs on to the wall ! Singing and talking in to your tape recorder..... fart competitions !

The smell of the sun and fresh cut grass. Listening to your Dad mow the lawn and taking him a drink when it was hot. Helping your Mum cook cakes and your Nanna to make butterfly cupcakes, and drink a cup of tea with lots of sugar. Having a sip of beer with your Dad when Mum was'nt looking.

Big bubbles no troubles' with Hubba Bubba bubble gum. A choc-top. Not beans again.. no no no, it's Rosella savoury rice ! Don't wait to be told.. you need palmolive gold ! Mr whippy the ice cream van, playing "The Gypsy Rover" or "Greensleeves "
on a warm summer night after you've chased him round the block.

20 cents worth of mixed lollies lasted a week and pretending to smoke
"fags" (the lollies) was really cool.Wrapping your laughing gear around a Paul's Billabong. Come on Aussie come on! Guess whose Mum's got a whirlpool ? Your Mum ought to be congratulated for using Meadow lea marg. Your Dad felt like a toohey's or two, and you were soaking in it Marge !

A dollars' worth of chips from the corner take-away fed two people (AND the sauce was free!!). McDonald's was about $10 to feed a family of four. Getting take away was a big treat.

Being upset when you botched putting on the temporary tattoo from the bubblegum packet, but still wearing it proudly.

Or staying up late and sneaking a look at the AO movie on the second telly.Watching Video hits all night and also Rage with your friends. Getting up to date with the music scene with Countdown and Sounds.

When around the corner seemed a long way, and going into town seemed like going somewhere. Driving trips with your family. Holidays at the same coastal town each year !

Where running away meant you did laps of the block because you weren't allowed to cross the road?? Riding your bike all around the suburbs with your mates. Having a nickname was part and parcel of acceptance from your friends.

A million mozzie bites, wasp and bee stings. Sticky fingers, cops and robbers, cowboys and indians, riding bikes and catching tadpoles, then keeping them in an ice cream container. Silkworms and frogs, and old willy wagtail nests for show and tell at school. Your Mum saying a bit of dirt won't kill you.Or stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about !

Marco polo in the neighbours' pool and telling people not to pee in the pool or the water would turn red and then that person would be ostracized forever !
Drawing all over the road and driveway with chalk. Climbing trees and building cubbies out of every sheet your mum had in the cupboard.

Walking to school, no matter what the weather. Walking to the school sports carnivals and wrapping up in a blanket.When writing 'I love....?..'on your pencil case, really did mean it was true love.
He loves me? he loves me not? Running till you were out of breath.
Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt. Pitching the tent in the back/front yard. Jumping on the bed. Ghosts stories with the next door neighbours. Seances with your friends..... Pillow fights, spinning round, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for the giggles.

The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team. Water balloons were the ultimate weapon. Cricket cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle. Eating raw jelly, making homemade lemonade and sucking on a Funny Face, Paddle Pop or red Icy Pole. Cooking Rice a Riso and eating the lot ! Having twenty cents to buy a vegemite crust from the school canteen , as well as a traffic stopper iceblock or a black queen.

Remember when there were only two types of sneakers - girls and boys.
Dunlop volleys with the green 'n' gold or blue and the only time you wore them at school was for "sports day. Bloomers in primary school under netball skirts. Desert boots and dag bags.

You knew everyone in your street - and so did your parents!

It wasn't odd to have two or three best friends & you would ask them by sending a note asking them to be your best friend. You didn't sleep a wink on Christmas eve but did'nt dare to go and sneak a look at the presents Santa had bought before your Parents got up... or the elves would take them away! And pretending to sleep for the tooth fairy.

When nobody owned a pure-bred dog. When 50c was decent pocket money and you did chores to earn it.
When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for 10c. When nearly everyone's Mum was
there when the kids got home from school. It was magic when Dad would remove his thumb or say, Pull my finger, quick !

When it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at the local Chinese restaurant with your family. Bonfire night and making the bonfire with all the neighbourhood kids, then watching the fireworks your Dad got in a big plastic bag..... and being allowed to have sparklers.
When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed her or use him to carry groceries and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it.

When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home.

Basically, we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat!
Some of us are still afraid of them!!!

Remember when decisions were made by going eeny-meeny-miney-mo or dib
dib's-scissors, paper, rock.

Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in Monopoly. Playing Cluedo, trouble and pick up sticks. Barrel of monkeys and Don't dump the daisy were skillfull games.

Terrorism was when the older kids were at the end of your street with pea-shooters waiting to ambush you. Or starting high school and living in fear of your tie being flushed down the toilet.

The worst thing you could catch from the opposite censored was boy/girl germs, and the worst thing in your day was having to sit next to one.

Where blue light disco's were the equivalent to a Rave, and asking a boy out meant writing a polite note getting them to tick yes or no.

When there was always that one HOT guy/girl. Getting love bites on your neck ! Playing spin the bottle.

Having a weapon in school meant being caught with a slingshot. Your biggest danger at school was accidentally walking through the middle of a heated game of brandies.

Nobody was prettier than your Mum. Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better. Your Dad was the smartest Dad in the street.